Luke Castellan and the Quest for The Golden Apple
by whatisnate
Summary: I'm running, but from what? I don't know, and I don't dear look back. The sun is going down-Is that good? Will it make the monster stronger? Most likely yes, it must be a monster chasseing me. There's a girl up in my point of view, she's scared, and I'm trying to get to her. But there's a problem, I don't know her, yet I need to save her. Just then the bridge she's on gives out.
1. Chapter 1

_**If only I could see you once again…But how can I rise up?**_  
 __****_**How could I compare? To the hero I need to be.**_  
 __ _ **The father how was never there.**_

 _I'm running, but from what? I don't know, and I don't dear look back. The sun is going down-Is that good? Will it make the monster stronger? Most likely yes, it must be a monster chasseing me. There's a girl up in my point of view, she's scared, and I'm trying to get to her. But there's a problem, I don't know her, yet I need to save her. Just then the bridge she's on gives out. The girl screams my name as I dive of the bridge to save her. I hit the ice cold water. My face feels frozen, my limbs hurt-yet I try and look for the girl._

I woke in a cold sweat again, I had been having that dream for the past few nights now and well-It's pretty weird, I looked over to my left to see everyone else just getting up. Thinking fast; I grab my clothes for the day and dash over to the bathroom in our cabin. Because you don't want to be at the back of the line-trust me when I say you don't.

My day started some what like this:

9:05) Breakfast

10:05) Arts and crafts (witch I by the way suck at)

11:30) Archery (More of Apollo's thing)

12:07) Lunch

2:03) visit Thalia's tree.

2:15) Hangs out with Grover and Annabeth.

3:00) busting the Stoll brothers (in other words, my little brothers)

4:00) sword practice (now we're talking!)

You see, I love sword fighting-in fact I'm really good at it. Some times when I get mad because my dad is never paying any attention to me, I go to the battle arena to calm down. Here, let's look at it this way. It's like throwing a tantrum-but not at the same time. You know?

Anyways after a little while I heard some giggling, I looked over to see two little girls hiding by the armory room, I sighed. You see Annabeth has a crush on me-But me being, well just me. I never got the guts to point it out. So I played dumb, and looked up. Both the girls stopped giggling and made their way out.

I sighed and got back to working on my moves. It was easy working with swords I find. But only if it's balanced. And mostly every one I'd take wasn't really balanced. I had tried almost every one of them-but one...It lay in the back of the armory room behind lots of junk. I walked over and pushed the shields and old Greek helmets out of my way-Oh and in the progress I almost got my head cut off. Finally, I was in the most weird posses _ever ,_ with my arm reaching out just to get the handle of the blade. 'Just a little more and u-'

"Got it!" I called out to no one. Now all I had to do was get out-Oh shit. Getting in was badish, I wonder how bad it would be to get out? Man, if Thalia were here, she'd be laughing at me right about now... _If_ she was here. I got out about an hour later, with some scratches and marks on my arms and legs.  
I looked down at my self-and then the sword in my hand. And u wanna know the funny thing? It felt just right.  
Was it worth it?  
Yes, you could say that.

I walked back to my cabin just as the horn blew for dinner. Okay, so let my just inform u that here at camp we go in order-And let me just say; it _suck's._ I mean, the Hermes cabin is number 11, the last cabin in all of camp half blood, but I guess I should probable shut the hell up for the unclaimed ones all the way in the back. In fact, that's one of the many reason's why I hate the gods so much. I don't care if there my family! If they really cared for us all, then why is there so many unclaimed kids-so many of us dead because they can't even be bothered with us!  
Oh sorry, I suppose I should stop now. I mean I could keep going and fill this hole story with so many reason's why I hate the Greek gods-But that not what your here to read. So any ways I got my food and sat next to my _unclaimed_ friend Ethan Nakamura.  
Ethan glanced over at me with a smile. "Hay Luke, what's u?" he asked, I gave him a smirk "The sky, duh." I said, we both laughed for a moment for no good reason. "Okay, fine u got me there. But if I must ask, what happened to your arms?" Ethan asked. I sighed looking at them. "Cozing trouble." I replied. Ethan shook his head. "I don't even want to know." he said. I gave him a light punch and told him to shut the hell up.

After dinner Ethan and I were on our way back to the only safe enough place to call home-The Hermes cabin. Even if I had brothers and sisters, they were only half's.; so really not home. Maybe it's just me. I walked over to my bed and waited for our camp counselor to call it a day. Some on named Chris walked up to me, he'd only joined camp a week age. "Hay Luke!" he said, I looked up from my green diary (not that it maters or any of your business)and gave Chris a half smile "Hay, how can I help u?" I said. Chris scoffed and looked out and over to Thalia's tree...The girl who had died saving her friends...The girl who stole my heart. "I just wanted to know if I'll ever be claimed." he said, I felt my heart tear. "You will, and you will get out of hear." I said pulling Chris into a hug.  
"I promise."

Okay, I tried to control my dreams. But that's not easy when your a demigod. That night I could of sworn Thalia was trying to hunt me-In my dreams I had a re-peat of what happened on Camp half hill.

Their breaths came in short gasps and their legs burned with effort as they ran up that hill, the promise of safety being the only thing that kept their aching bodies moving forward.

That, and the horde of monster forty meters away that was closing in fast.

Luke was in the lead, his long legs advancing more than any of the demigods present. But his steps were hasty and uncoordinated, almost making him trip once, twice.

Annabeth was not as lucky. She was in the middle, trying to keep up with Luke's long strides in her shorter legs. Her hair was matted, and her jeans' knees were tinted green from having fallen so many times.

Thalia could not tell for sure, but she thought she saw tears slid down her face and she pressed her lips together in a futile attempt to not cry. Even in movement, she could see her little body racking as each sob stroke.

The terrain was irregular; the night was dark except for the occasional slash of lighting that lit up the sky. A storm was coming.

Thalia heard Grover gloat in horror as he looked back over his shoulder. The sound startled Annabeth, who tripped and lost her balance at once, her legs finally giving up and folding beneath her.

"Luke! Luke!" Thalia's throat was raw from the cold air when she noticed Annabeth's fall. Her words were lost in the fierce wind around her, mingled with the roars of the various monster and the crunching of snapping branches as they gave way to heavy feet.

Luke chose that moment to look back. He immediately turned back in his tracks. Every muscle in his body was screaming in protest and his face was flushed, but he could not just leave them behind.

Thalia was dragging an unmoving Annabeth as best as she could. Grover was just too far ahead to have noticed anything that was happening. The three demigods were on their own.

Luke stooped and lifted Annabeth up. She was very pale and had a bloody gash in her forehead, but otherwise she was uninjured.

A lighting lit the somber scene in a flash of ethereal light, and they were able to see back and make out the figures of the monsters, now so very close.

It was with a sinking realization that Thalia knew they wouldn't make it. Not like this, not all four. She knew what she had to do.

The wind howled in her ears, and the lightings in the sky became more and more frequent as a storm approached, as if all the gods were against her newfound decision, but it was too late: she would not back down.

Her heart beats became erratically frequent, it felt like her heart knew it had minutes, seconds left and was in a frenzied hurry. Thump, thump, thump. Tick, tock.

The cold wind and rain beat against her ruthlessly, but Thalia felt numb. It was only when warmer fingers wrapped around her wrist that she was jarred back to the very present.

She stared at the fingers, uncomprehending, until her electric gaze made its way upward and dug into his.

Luke, who in the dim light looked so much like little Jason, Thalia thought, her heart wrenching in sadness. The same shade of blond and the same forget-me-not blue eyes.

Those same forget-me-not eyes who now were looking at her, scrutinizing her, but not critically so. They were looking for an explanation for her actions, but she had none.

Another lightning; Zeus was watching, she was sure of it. Well, let him watch, Thalia thought bitterly. A bit too late to worry about me, dad.

Thalia took a shuddering breath and then she stepped away from Luke.

"No." His voice was hoarse, but determined. "No, Thalia, you can't-"

"We won't make it!" Thalia snapped harshly as reality crushed into her. Luke's face contorted and his body recoiled at her venom-filled words, but in no time he was closer than before. Annabeth began to stir in his arms and Luke swiftly placed her on the wet grass. Thalia watched quietly.

"Run, child, run!" Luke said to Annabeth. She shot one last look at them, she did not even question his order, before scurrying as fast as she could to where Grover was.

Luke gripped Thalia's shoulders tightly, trying to hold her down, and she wrapped her hands around his wrists, refusing to do so.

A choked sound escaped Thalia's lips as an immense sadness washed over her. It was all over now, she could feel it. She never had a chance.

Thalia felt the urge to say something to him, anything, everything. She opened her lips and struggled for words, but she didn't find any. Her thoughts were no longer coherent.

An expression of utter defeat crossed Luke's handsome features and Thalia thought anxiously that he would finally let her go. She didn't want that. That would mean that there was no option left for her than facing the oncoming army.

A fierce determination rippled for a moment in his face, but before Thalia could figure out what that meant, Luke's lips had already crashed into hers.

It was a brief kiss which combined desire, yearning and desperation. A warm feeling spread inside both of them, and they momentarily forgot where they were.

But, like all things, it was ephemeral.

She separated herself somewhat reluctantly from him and pushed him firmly in the direction of very top of the hill. He started running after Annabeth with one last sidelong glance.

Thalia turned back now to face the monsters, got Aegis ready and set and her fingers wrapped individually onto her sword's hilt. Her mouth curled into a disdainful snarl.

A mere façade, for Zeus' daughter was, for once, at a loss.

She knew she would (had) to go down, and she would do so fighting until her very last breath, but that was not what left her in such a state.

She had finally found the words that seemed lost to her before.

Thalia shook her head. She uttered a war cry before plunging into a battle in which she was hopelessly destined to lose, those not even uttered last words resonating aimlessly in her thoughts.

 _Join me Luke Castellan, your father let her die. He let Thalia die! Not u child._ The voice said. _I care unlike your father. Join me to over throw the gods._ The voice said, and that voice was named Kronos.

I woke in a cold sweat and crying silently. _I need to run._ I thought. I swung my body out of bed and garbed some camp clothes and stuffed them in a bag.  
I kept running up the hill, not looking back.  
"No, Luke!" some one called. Great I wasn't alone. I kept running. _What is he doing here?_ I thought. I wanted the pain to end. I wanted it all to end. I was so close to the boundaries now, just a few more feet to climb. I came to flat ground and right up ahead was the tree that marked the boundaries. I ran to the tree. The rain started to hit hear now.  
My legs felt weak and I tripped, falling onto my face. "Luke, I can't let u do this!" call the same voice. I let lose a sob. why was this man so content on ruining my life?  
I tried to get up but something hand crawled on top of me, holding me down. The man picked me off the muddy ground and dragged me right back down the hill, it was my father Hermes. I struggled to get away from him, looking back at the boundaries that held me from my freedom. I was crying even more harder.  
Chiron meet us at the bottom. "Thank you, so lucky u saw him in this storm." he said, the turned to me. "Luke don't ever do that again child, you could of been killed." I looked away form them. "Luke my son-" Hermes started. "Don't-don't you dare call me as one of your own _Hermes!_ You let Thalia die!" I hissed. Chiron sighed. "Go back to your cabin Luke. Well will speak no more of this."  
I took off running back to my cabin. That's how it always was. _Some day I'll leave and never be turned in-_

S _ome day soon...  
_  
 **(Okay guys, now I want u to let me know if I should up date. Let me know how good of a job I did on Luke and his hate for the gods. Oh and I'm gonna be just like uncle Rick now so get ready to hate me but, IF I UP DATE I'LL ADD NICO AND BIANCA AND PERCY AND RACHEL! YES HE MET ALL OF THEM BEFORE ON HIS QUEST! OH AND FOR THOSE LEO FANS OUT THERE-HIS IN HERE TO! LET'S NOT FORGET PIPER AND JASON! Well bye guys. Banana Jump!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(Wow, can I just say how happy I am that some very lucky people commented and got me think of doing another update! So I just wanted to say thank u sooo very much. It really gave me some hope that more people will read. Now this chapter is about Luke and Hermes. And again I really am trying to nail Luke`s character down. So yeah. Now enough of my blabbering and on with the story!)**

The next day everyone kept on asking me about the hole instant from last night. Luckily I was in my own world-I could not help but think about my dreams last night. With Annabeth and Thalia.

 _Thalia_

* * *

 **Flash Back** **  
** _"Hermes! Help my son! No no-not his fate!" screamed May Castellan as she shook pore Luke Castellan. The boy was only five when she started the fits. The fit that scared Luke for life. He'd pray for a god who wasn't there for help. Luke would also cry himself to sleep most nights. Knowing that his own father hated him._

* * *

Ethan shook me out of my thoughts telling me that it was time for training. I nodded and got up to go get my sword, that's when it hit me. " _The sword."_ I got down on all four and grabbed out the sword I had found yesterday. I finally got my first real look at it. The sword felt balanced and powerful , but that's not the part that got my eye. It was the part where it was half bronze and half silver. "Whoa dud, where in Zeus did u get that!" asked some random camper in my cabin. I looked up and the back down at the sword. "Uh...nowhere really." I manged, I could here some people whispering among them selves. "Just ignore them." Ethan told me. But that's kinda hard to when their all looking at u.

Just as me and Ethan walk out Chiron comes over. I sighed in annoyance. "I thought we where not to speak of last nights event any more." I spat. Ethan backed up a little. "I got to go Luke, um...see ya-or not." Ethan mumbled the last part and was off with every one else. I turned back to Chiron who had stopped, leaving a space between us. "Luke, we need to talk." he said. "What is there to talk about? Other then me running away." I scowled. "Talk, now." Chiron ordered.

As soon as I walk in I had to fight back the feeling to turn right around and make a run for it. Right at the other side of the room stood my father Hermes. "What do _you_ want? _Dad."_ I said sarcastically. Hermes sighed. "And hello to you to Luke." he said in a sad tone. As if he cared for how I felt. "I came to give u something." Hermes said finally. "I don't want whatever it is u are trying to give me _dad_." I said darkly. Hermes shook his head. "No, Luke wait-I wanted to give u a chance to prove your self a hero. I mean, your at the age to be given a quest. So I just thought..." I looked at him in the eyes for a moment. "Well? What do you say?" he asked.

I heaved a sigh. "Fine."

It was final. I'd leave camp in the morning. The rest of my day was as good as it could get when your a half-blood. So I'm just gonna skip to were my nightmares begin.

 _I'd expected the meat stench to ease up as I got further from the 'dining room', but I was let down. As I got closer to the bottom of the slope, it got worse. And I was suddenly aware of deep, low growling sound coming from beyond it. It wasn't like the growling of the hellhounds about to pounce, though. It was rhythmic, like, one, two, one, two. Growl, growl. Growl, growl.  
Then I reached the end of the slope, which opened up into a much larger cavern. In the middle of it was a roaring log fire, with a stack of uprooted trees burning in it. And, curled up next to it, was a massive, slumbering, honest-to-goodness dragon; wings, tail, brown scaly hide, and all. It was snoring, which would explain the growling noise, and each time it exhaled, flames would puff from its nostrils.  
I know, I know, you're probably thinking "But dragons are from medieval mythology! There's no such thing as a Greek dragon!"  
That was what I thought too, but, well, tough. This one looked pretty real to me.  
OK, so a dragon wasn't so bad. I could only fight one monster at a time, so I wouldn't die immediately if I took on one dragon. Getting pounced on by hellhounds from five different directions would kill me instantly.  
But I'd never even met a dragon before, much less knew how to kill one. I had the feeling that one didn't simply walk up to it, stab it with a Celestial bronze blade, and hope it disintegrated.  
Suddenly, I heard the thunder of footstep coming from outside.  
Unfortunately, so did the dragon.  
It shifted uncomfortably in its sleep, before its eyes snapped open.  
Uh-oh.  
I dove behind a rock, and almost puked when I found myself next to a half-decomposed human corpse.  
Apparently dragons didn't share the concept of a 'dining room' with humans.  
The dragon threw its head up and roared. Tongues of flame burst from its mouth, licking the ceiling.  
And it rushed up the slope.  
I was nearly dizzy at my good fortune. The sight of the dragon would almost certainly send the hellhounds packing, if being near its lair already scared them so much. Then I'd be able to run out and escape, and I wouldn't have to fight either the hellhounds or the dragon.  
I turned my sword back into key mode and tucked it in my pocket. I was going to need every bit of speed I could muster.  
I could still hear footsteps, and I wondered what or who it was that had drawn the dragon's attention. Then I realised it was probably a demigod who had been forced into the cave because of the hellhounds I lured outside, and I immediately felt bad about myself. Another demigod, whose life probably wasn't much easier than mine, had been forced by the hellhounds that I had lured here into a dragon's cave, accidentally woke up said dragon, and was now about to get eaten by it. And all I could think about was how this would scare the hellhounds away and allow me to escape.  
I drew my sword again. If I helped the demigod, I would definitely alert the dragon. Then I wouldn't be able to flee without it chasing me. Would I be able to outrun it? I didn't know. But I knew I couldn't let another demigod get hurt because of me.  
I ran towards the slope, mentally preparing myself to go out fighting a dragon, but before I reached it, a flash of black rounded the corner and slammed into me.  
"Oof!" the flash of black, who turned out to be a girl, cried, stumbling and falling. She dropped the spear she was carrying, and it clattered to the ground.  
I kept my balance, but when I looked down at the girl I'd run into, I felt my legs grow weak.  
She was the prettiest girl I'd met in my life. I mean, I guess it didn't really go all too well with the punk clothes and short, spiky black hair, but she had the most beautiful features I'd ever seen. She had freckles across her nose, and intense, electric blue eyes that I found…well, irresistible.  
I crouched down.  
"Uh…hey," I said lamely.  
She glanced up at me. I thought I saw her eyes light up, by I guess it was just my imagination.  
I extended my hand to help her up. Now I'd like to say that sparks flew when we touched, but unfortunately they literally did.  
I yelped, jumping back. A daughter of Zeus, apparently.  
"Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl gasped, blushing as she stood up.  
She took my hand and checked it for injury. Her skin was soft and cool against mine.  
"It's okay," I drew my hand back to myself.  
She picked up her spear, and then we looked awkwardly at each other for a few seconds.  
"I'm Luke," I introduced myself, feeling pretty self-conscious.  
"Thalia," she said, nervously scratching the back of her head and blushing.  
For a second, it was almost like we weren't demigods on the run, but the guy and the girl in some sappy teen rom-com.  
And then the dragon roared, shattering the illusion, as it charged back down into its cave.  
I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me, then wrapped my arms around her, throwing us both to the ground and rolling behind the rock to rejoin my pal the decomposing corpse.  
We were both blushing as she disentangled herself from my arms, but the dragon wasn't giving us any time to feel embarrassed. It sniffed the air and roared, releasing a huge burst of flame for effect.  
She wrinkled her nose at the corpse.  
I anticipated her question.  
"I was hoping the stench would help us avoid the dragon," I whispered.  
She nodded silently.  
"You're…you're like me, right?" she asked softly.  
I nodded. "Demigod. Son of Hermes."  
"Daughter of—"  
"Zeus?"  
She cocked her head. "How did you—"  
"Sparks. Quite obvious."  
The dragon roared again.  
"I ran into some hellhounds and outside the cave. I had no choice but to go in. Then the dragon chased me around, and I ran into you," she explained in hushed tones. "What about you? How did you get down here?"Before we could continue our conversation, the dragon moved closer and bent down, trying to sniff us out. I grabbed her arm, pulled her down, and pressed her against the rock as the dragon's head passed over us, reaching with my other arm to pull the putrid-smelling corpse closer, trying to mask our scent.  
The tactic seemed to work. With a growl, the dragon turned to sniff another pile of rocks.  
"We can't hide forever. We need a plan," she said, unpeeling herself from the rock as I shoved the corpse away.  
I scanned our surroundings. Corpses and carcasses in various states of decomposition, a log fire, and my backpack filled with clothes, food and water. Nothing that would be much help against a hungry, raging dragon.  
"The hellhounds should be gone, if they have any sense of self-preservation," I told her. "So all that's left is the dragon. If we're both going to get out of this alive, we're going to have to put it to sleep or kill it. Trouble is, doesn't look like there's anything here that could help us do that."  
She glanced at the dragon's scales, and then at our weapons.  
"And I don't think we're going to have much luck hurting it with these," she lifted her spear.  
I nodded. "I figured as much."  
She frowned, deep in thought.  
"Hermes…what did he do again?"  
"Wreck my life," I muttered.  
Thalia was silent. I glanced at her. Despite her dangerous appearance, the look in her eyes was tender and broken. I had the feeling that whatever Zeus had put her through probably wasn't much better than the kind of life Hermes had left me.  
"OK, anyway," I changed the subject back to the original question, "Hermes is the god of a lot of things. Travel. Speed. Messengers."  
"Thieves?"  
I scowled. I'd inherited a few abilities from that aspect of my father's patronage that I wasn't particularly proud of.  
"Yeah. But none of that's useful. I really don't think I'll be able to outrun a dragon."  
Suddenly, it struck me.  
"You're the daughter of Zeus, right? He's the Lord of the Sky. Can you fly?"  
She shuddered. "No…"  
I cocked an eyebrow. It was almost as though she was scared of flying. But I figured I'll ask her later.  
"OK, um…can you summon lightning?"  
She chewed her lip and avoided my gaze.  
"Yeah, but it'll take a bit of time. And it's not very precise."  
"Great! We'll lure the creature out into the open. Go someplace where the dragon can't see you, like behind the knoll, and focus. I'll run around and keep it busy until you're ready."  
She still looked doubtful.  
"Don't worry," I flashed her a confident smile. "Trust me, I can stay alive long enough."  
"It's not you I'm worried about. It's me."  
I patted her shoulder.  
"You can do it," I tried to reassure her. "We'll both get out of this alive. I promise."  
She sighed, and then nodded, and her eyes hardened with resolve.  
"Let's go."  
I collapsed my sword and tucked in into my pocket. It wouldn't be any good against the dragon, and would only slow me down.  
"Alright. You go first. Get in position. I'll keep the dragon off you."  
She nodded, and dashed out.  
The sudden motion caught the dragon's attention, but then I shouted, "HEY MEAT BREATH!"  
With a surprised grunt, the dragon turned to face me. I was standing next to the rock, on the opposite side from the slope leading out.  
"OVER HERE, YOU UGLY OVERGROWN LIZARD!"  
The dragon roared angrily. I didn't know if it understood my words, but it seemed to get the tone.  
I dive-rolled to the side as the dragon torched the ground I had been standing on. Gymnastic ability was another Hermes thing.  
"COME ON!" I taunted the dragon.  
This time, I was barely able to dodge the dragon's lunge. If I'd hesitated for half a second, I'd have been dinner.  
Luckily, the dragon's lunge had carried it into the wall of the cave, smashing its face – hard – into it, so it was stunned for a few seconds. Long enough for me to make a mad dash for the exit.  
The dragon roared and charged after me as I stumbled from the top of the slope into the entrance cave in the knoll. Thalia was nowhere to be seen, which was good. It meant she'd gotten out of the cave.  
I dove to the side, and not a moment too soon. The dragon rushed into the cavern about a second after I did. It would have trampled me if I'd remained there.  
I regained my balance as the dragon, who was facing out of the knoll, turned around, sniffing about.  
"I'M OVER HERE, YOU STUPID BEAST!" I shouted, trying to keep its attention on me and stop it from picking up Thalia's scent.  
The dragon didn't seem all too bright. It released another of its signature roars, and lunged, slamming its head into the wall again. This dazed it long enough for me to flee into the forest outside.  
"COME AND GET ME!" I yelled, running from the knoll.  
The hellhounds, thankfully, were gone, and there was still no trace of Thalia, which meant that she had taken my advice and gone behind the knoll.  
I tumbled to the side as a blast of flame erupted from the mouth of the cave, followed by a very angry dragon.  
It roared again, and then charged at me.  
Thalia, hurry up, I thought, as I began playing the deadliest and most bizarre game of catch in my life.  
The dragon, fortunately, didn't breathe fire, so I didn't have to constantly dodge jets of flame from it. I suppose it knew that fire spreads very easily, and it didn't want to destroy the forest, since it was the source of its food and the logs for its fire. I tried to keep it from getting too far from the knoll, while also making sure that it stayed in front of it, away from Thalia.  
The creature was powerful, but it was difficult for it to change its direction. I played that to my advantage: I turned as much as possible, causing the dragon to have to constantly start and stop to match my direction. It was also too bulky to move through the gaps in trees, so it had to smash through them instead, slowing itself down. I, on the other hand, was easily able to climb and vault through the forest, thanks to the agility I got from Hermes.  
So I ran, jumped and climbed around in circles, occasionally glancing up to see the clouds above growing thicker and darker. And finally, after what seemed like forever, as I ran towards the knoll, I felt the air grow electric, and every hair on my body stood on end.  
Finally.  
"NOW! GET THE DRAGON, THALIA!"  
Thunder shook the ground, and the electricity in the air rapidly grew far sharper.  
So imagine my utter surprise as a bolt of lightning arced down from the skies…right in front of me.  
"Thalia!" I yelped, jumping back before I'd stopped running forward. This ended up with me crashing quite unceremoniously to the ground on my backside.  
"Oh my gods, LUKE!" Thalia screamed.  
And then the dragon lunged at me.  
I rolled out of the way as it smashed into another tree.  
I struggled to my feet, as the dragon turned to face me.  
"LUKE!"  
With a grunt, the creature whirled around, its ears perking up, listening for the source of the voice.  
"I'm alright, Thalia!" I shouted, attempting to draw the creature's attention back to me.  
"Try again! Come on, you can do it!"  
Thalia didn't respond, fortunately, so now the dragon was focused entirely on me.  
"THIS ISN'T OVER, YOU GIANT WORM!"  
The dragon roared, releasing a puff of flame to show that it meant business.  
I didn't stick around.  
The chase continued, as my legs screamed in protest. Pain and exhaustion clung to me, while the dragon still seemed fighting fit. It had knocked down quite a few of the trees here, so now I couldn't run between them, but had to climb and jump even more. Nonetheless, I steeled myself, and kept on running. I promised Thalia we'd make it out of this mess in one piece. I intended to keep that promise.  
My feet were on fire, my shirt was soaked through with sweat, my ragged, heavy breathing seemed louder than the roars of the dragon, everything was a haze of aches and fatigue, and I'd later discover that I acquired a grand total of twenty-three splinters from climbing all those logs and trees. But I held out until I felt that familiar tingle in the air, at which point I almost screamed with relief.  
The dragon was closing in on me as I ran towards the knoll again. Acid burned in my thighs, and I could feel the air rippling against the back of my neck from the dragon's jaws snapping behind me.  
"THALIA!"  
Thunder boomed.  
And my nostrils were filled with the stench of charred meat.  
I turned around.  
The dragon was dead.  
Thalia staggered out from behind the knoll. I could see how pale she was in the moonlight. Summoning those two bolts of lightning had really taken it out of her.  
Despite the pain in my legs, I ran up to her, and she fell into my arms, exhausted.  
"Did…did we kill it?"  
I smiled tenderly at her, as I held her.  
"Yes, Thalia. It's dead. We did it."  
She smiled peacefully, and nodded, before closing her eyes and falling asleep, collapsing completely into my arms.  
Even though I felt like collapsing myself, I scooped up her legs, and carried her bridal style into the cavern. I was ready to pass out myself, but I had to make sure we were someplace safe. It would be rather sad if we'd survived the dragon and the hellhounds just to get eaten by monsters while we slept. When we got there, I almost dropped her on the ground, but somehow managed to hold out long enough to lower her gently, before crumpling myself.  
The last thing I remembered before passing out from fatigue was realising how beautiful she looked in the orange light of the dragon's log fire._

* * *

 _Thalia woke up before I did. Fortunately, no monsters had come in to attack us as we slept, but then they'd have to be pretty dumb to try to find a snack inside a dragon's cave.  
I looked around. There weren't any corpses in sight, and the rotten meat smell was now much fainter. I figured Thalia must've cleaned up the place while I was still unconscious.  
Thalia was staring into the fire, occasionally poking it with a twig. I couldn't read her expression.  
When she saw me stirring, once again, I thought I saw her eyes light up.  
"You're awake," she observed.  
She got up and walked to me.  
"Here," she crouched down beside me, "drink some nectar."  
She picked up my jar of the godly drink and offered it to me.  
"You've got cuts and scrapes everywhere."  
I winced as my fingers curled around the cool glass, pressing the splinters in.  
She noticed this, and prised the jar from my hand.  
"Let me see."  
I didn't resist as she took my hand and began gently picking them out.  
I sat there, quite in awe of the fact that an extremely pretty girl was treating me so tenderly and sweetly. This was, by far, the best thing that had happened to me in quite a while.  
So I just waited, letting Thalia do her thing, until she'd picked out the last splinter.  
"There. All done."  
She opened the jar of nectar and pressed it to my lips.  
"Here. Try the nectar now."  
I took the jar, and poured a little bit into my mouth. It tasted like cookies. The amazing kind that Mum used to make before…before…  
I shuddered, putting the memory out of my mind.  
I felt the pain from my cuts fading, the wounds sealing up, the flesh knitting together.  
I put the jar down and screwed the lid back on.  
Thalia picked up one of the sandwiches I took from Anthony's house, and offered it to me.  
As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. All that running and jumping had made me hungry.  
I gratefully accepted it with a muttered word of thanks, then began wolfing it down.  
Thalia picked up another sandwich.  
"Mind if I…?"  
"Yeah, sure," I said with my mouth full.  
She snorted in amusement. I guess my voice did sound a little funny when it was muffled like that. But some part of me hoped that she'd snorted because she found it cute.  
We sat, eating together in a somewhat awkward silence.  
"So, uh, thanks for saving me," she finally said.  
I blushed, feeling self-conscious. "No, you saved me."  
"I guess neither of us would've survived without each other."  
"I guess," I agreed.  
More silence.  
"Uh, Thalia?"  
"Hmm?"  
"You know, we make a pretty good team."  
She smiled. "Yeah. I know."  
"We should stick together," I said. "I mean, this time, we got lucky. We ran into each other. But if we split up and either of us has to face something that you or I can't handle alone, then we're toast. So I figured we'd have a better chance of surviving if we travelled with each other."  
Her smile widened.  
"Yeah. I'd like to travel with you. After all, like you said, we make a pretty good team."  
The compliment made my insides melt a little.  
I extended my hand, "Team?"  
Still smiling, she shook it, "Team."  
"Yow!"  
She gasped and covered her mouth.  
"I'm sorry, Luke!"_

I woke with a start, the sun was now shining. "Luke! Get up! Today's the day!" said Chris happily. I gave him a good old Hermes grin.

"Yeah, today is the day." was all I said to him.


End file.
